Chapter 56: Soybeans Made into Delicious Foods

The elderly couple moved all their bedding, daily necessities, and clothes from the countryside to their new house, seemingly planning to stay for good. Jing Shu finally felt relieved. Her grandparents couldn’t possibly pass away right under her watch, could they? Third Aunt and Wu You’ai also paid a special visit to Jing Shu. In the past few days, Third Aunt had knitted a cotton vest, knee pads, and socks for her using wool yarn. Wu You’ai brought over a dozen amber silk worms in a cardboard box, saying, "Did you mention wanting silkworms a few days ago? I asked the professor for some experimental ones. The domestic silkworms are gone; these are amber silk worms whose silk is golden. Currently, they are only bred and utilized in India, and they can eat a variety of plants. Whether you can keep them alive is up to you." Jing Shu joyfully accepted the worms. She had been so busy gathering various materials recently that she had forgotten about the silkworms. By the time she remembered, she couldn’t find any. They had most likely all died from the temperature unless they were in a villa like hers with constant temperature control. Jing Shu hadn’t expected Wu You’ai to still be able to find them. Although they weren’t the Huaxia species, any silk-producing worm was a good one. By raising some silkworms now, the silk would be very useful later on. After the apocalypse, there was no new production of cotton or linen. The first few years were manageable, as one could scavenge them from other people’s homes or corpses. However, in the later years, the government distributed all the quilts and clothes they could, leaving no new ones. Although Jing Shu had also bought quite a bit, there would inevitably come a day when it was all used up. Cotton was one thing. She could grow some in her Magic Cube Space and figure out a way to process it. However, many applications that required silk could not do without it. She didn’t need many worms, just enough to maintain a breeding stock, so whenever she needed more, she could propagate them. Jing Shu knew Third Aunt and Wu You’ai were showing their gratitude for the medicine she had given them. Though they hadn’t said much, their actions spoke volumes. This is how relations among relatives should be, Jing Shu mused, reciprocal and appreciative. Relatives have no obligation to do anything for you, she thought. Just like Su Meimei, who endlessly demanded under the guise of family ties. Aiding is kindness, and not aiding is justifiable. Jing Shu’s affection for Third Aunt and Wu You’ai, whom she had not interacted with much in her previous life, had increased. ... "Grinding tofu is also a profound skill!" Mr. Jing spun the small mill and began his ’Jing Shanhe Style’ boasting—his full name being Jing Shanhe, a name that carried significant weight and prestige. Grandma Jing occasionally added some water and directed Mr. Jing as if commanding a donkey, while Jing Shu watched on, amused. In the following days, Jing Shu busied herself turning soybeans into tofu and then into various delicious dishes. In the south, they used gypsum for a more delicate texture. In the north, they used brine, which gave the tofu a stronger flavor and more toughness. Wu City, being in the north, predominantly used brine. She also made several 2-liter portions of tofu pudding to eat in the mornings and prepared many batches of soy milk, which she stored in the last remaining cubic meter of her space, convenient for drinking whenever desired. When boiling soy milk to make tofu, a skin would form on top. Once cooled, this became tofu skin, which Jing Shu fried until crispy. She also made tofu skin and put it in the cleared-out fridge. With the remaining tofu, Jing Shu made some into frozen tofu to use with the hotpot next time, some into various flavored dried tofu, and some into fried tofu. Coated with an egg wash and fried to a golden crisp, these fried tofu pieces were delicious with just a sprinkle of salt. Grandma Jing saved some tofu to make stinky tofu, and Jing Shu was reminded of Changsha stinky tofu, her mouth watering at the thought. Jing Shu turned all the remaining soybeans into Five-Spice Crispy Soybeans. Since there was no more room in her Magic Cube Space, she stored them in about a dozen 2-liter airtight containers. She then squeezed two more containers into another food storage spot within the Magic Cube Space, achieving the ultimate foodie dream: A snack whenever I want! Time flashed by to mid-March, and the weather was still unbearably hot. Dark Day showed no signs of abating, and everyone realized a terrifying fact: it seemed like Dark Day would never end, and the weather might never return to normal! Because there were no vegetables or other side dishes at home, the household’s food supply was depleting at an alarming rate from eating just rice or plain noodles every day! Food in refrigerators thawed and spoiled due to insufficient power. Households that consumed their food quickly ate meat and frozen goods daily, while in less careful households, various refrigerated foods would spoil! Eating the same type of grain day after day caused widespread dissatisfaction. Many people, like Jing Shu in her past life, couldn’t even bear the sight of white rice anymore. Back then, it was white rice for lunch and plain noodles for dinner every day, unless she tried to vary it by frying, stir-frying, or steaming ingredients. But no matter how many variations she tried, the essence remained the same. One could lose all appetite after eating the same food for a week, not to mention that everyone had been enduring this for over a month. Jing Shu even swore, I’d rather eat anything else than white rice! And so, she started eating instant noodles again. Wang Cuihua sent a voice message: "We used to get two buckets of water every two days, and now it’s just one. It’s barely enough for cooking rice and for our family to drink." Jinglai No.25: "I went to the west of the city to make ready-to-eat meals. I heard that water is becoming scarcer, and the lakes in Wu City are now green with decomposed organisms." Third Aunt and Wu You’ai, representing Grandma Jing, joined a group to relay messages. Third Aunt had also been to the west of the city to make ready-to-eat meals. It was tough work, but she was quite motivated and made many friends there. Wang Cuihua sent another message: "Is your place still hiring? I heard you get at least one meal with vegetables there." Jinglai No.25: "Not hiring anymore. I’ll call you when we are." Wang Qiqi No.13: "@everyone, important notice! Supermarket opening hours have changed to 20:00 to 21:00, only one hour. Those without food reserves should queue up daily to buy supplies! No one knows when Dark Day will end, which means we can’t grow any food until then! Also, I heard they are going to limit cooking with natural gas soon. I don’t know when they’ll turn it off, and then we won’t even be able to cook meals." This message shocked many lurking members, and people started asking what was going on. Power cuts and water shortages were one thing, but if natural gas was going to be cut off too, how were they supposed to cook? Young Master I Have a Baby No.13: "It’s like the apocalypse. Lots of information got leaked online, but it was all deleted. Some say Dark Day will never end, and Huaxia won’t be able to grow any food for years. Even if we have a three-year stockpile, it’ll run out eventually. So, let’s try to stock up as much as possible!" Wang Dazhao No.1: "It’s really like that. Sigh, I wish I had bought more food in the past few months! I came to queue at 2 PM, a full six hours early, and there were already many people. Next time you come to queue, you should be here by noon at least. The line behind me already extended across the street. With the shop only open for an hour, I don’t know if I’ll even be able to buy anything."